Mail-carrier.



G. MAAR. MAIL CAREER.

I APPLICATION FILED JULY 14, 1911. 1,028,894. r Patented June 11, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTOR \Cbdrles Maar COLUMBIA MMRAPH WJIASIIING ON. D. c.

Attorney Patented Julie 11,1912.

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[N VEN TOR WITNESSES COLIJn-BIA PLANDGRAPH 50., WASHINGTON D c CHARLES MAAR, OF WHITE, SOUTH DAKOTA.

MAIL-CARRIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1912.

Application filed July 14, 1911. Serial No. 638,506.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES MAAR, a citizen of the United States, residing at lNhite, in the county of Brookings and State of South Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Carriers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to that class of mail carrying apparatus in which a receptacle for carrying the mail is conveyed from one distant point to another by means of a traveling cable supported in elevated position and operated at one end of the line.

The invention has for its object to provide an improved apparatus of this kind which is especially adapted for use in connection with the main line of a rural delivery service whereby patrons of such service living at a distance from the main line may send mail to the main line to be collected by the mail carrier passing over the main line.

The invention further has for its object to provide an improved apparatus of thiskind by means of which the mail carrier may be readily passed over the supporting pulleys mounted on uprights and over which the cable travels and will readily clear the same and automatically clear the driving.

. the carrier cable passes and as here shown mechanism which operates said cable.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:-Figure 1 is a side view of a mail carrying apparatus constructed in accordance with this invent-ion. Fig. 2 is a foreshortened view in perspective of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, withparts broken,

away. Fig. 3 is a fore-shortened view in vertical section of the apparatus, with parts broken away. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of one of the brackets for supporting a pair of cable pulleys. Fig. 5 is an en larged detail view in vertical section of a portion of the pulley for openating the cable and the upper end of the post on which said pulley is mounted. Fig. 6 is an enlarged view in cross section of the mail carrier receptacle. Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the driving wheel and car rier showing its position as it is carried about on the wheel.

In carrying out the invention an endless example, from a farm house to a. point adjacent to the road over which the rural delivery vehicle passes. The cable mounted on the pulleys on said posts extends over a pulley on a post adjacent to the road over which the mail wagon passes and is operated by means of a suitable mechanism, as for example, a large grooved wheel mounted on a post at a farm house or other point from which the mail carrier receptacle is sent. A suitable mail carrier is secured to and suspended from said cable and is carried thereby from one'end of the line to the other, that is to say, from a farm house to the main road where the rural delivery vehicle passes.

The apparatus for carrying out this invention consists of a post 1 which may be braced by a diagonal brace 2 and is located near a farm house or other point remote from the main road where the rural delivery wagon passes. Upon the post 1 is mounted a suitable mechanism for operating the cable carrying the mail carrier, and, as here shown, preferably consisting of a large grooved wheel 3 provided with an operating handle 4:. Located adjacent to the main road over which the rural delivery mail wagon passes is a post 5 suitably braced, as for example, by diagonal braces 6 and having pivoted on its top a suitable wheel 6 over which preferably formed with the main dish shaped portion 7 having at its lower end the circumferential fiange 8 on which is adapted to rest the cable as hereinafter more particularly set forth. Located at intervals apart between the posts 1 and 5 are posts 9 each having mounted at its upper end a metallic transverse bracket 10 secured thereto in any suitable manner and consisting of a transverse strip of metal 11 having depending U-shaped members 12 on each of which is mounted a grooved pulley 13 over which extends an endless cable or cord 14 passing over the grooved wheel 3 and over the wheel 6 and resting upon the flange 8 thereof and bearing against the disk shaped portion 7 thereof. A suitable mail carrying receptacle 15 is provided formed of some light material;'as for example, aluminum and having" preferably, as here shown, consisting of,

wire and having one, end bent around one end of the receptacle 15 and then secured by twisting it as shown at 17 the wire then being bent at a right angle as at 18 and then having the vertical extending portion 19 and again bent at a right angle as at 20 parallel with the angular portion 18 and then bent downward as at 21 and secured to the cable 14.

By means of the peculiar shape of the bracket arms when the carrier arrives at the wheel 3 the member 21 of the brackets will engage one of the flanges of the groove of the wheel 3 as shown in Figs. 5 and 7 and be held in that position as the carrier is carried about the wheel thereby holding the carrier outward away from the wheel to clear the same as shown in Figs. 5 and 7, and when the carrier has reached the point where the bracket arms clear the wheel the part 21 will be away from the flange of the wheel 3 and permits the carrier to drop into its normal suspended position.

By means of this construction the receptacle is held outward so as to clear the posts 9 and the upper end of each of the wire brackets also clears the pulley 13 by being lifted above the plane of the horizontal plane of the cable 14 so as to ride over the pulleys 13. By means of this construction not only will the brackets of the mail carrier receptacle 15 be carried over the pulleys 13 but also the receptacle 15 will clear the-post 5, the upper end of the wire brackets passing along with the cable 14 over the flange 8 of the wheel 6. Furthermore by means of the bracket construction of the carrier the receptacle 15 will clear the grooved wheel 3 and as it is brought by the cable 14 to the wheel 3 will be automatically thrown out to a right angle position from the periphery of the grooved wheel 3 by gravity when it has reached the bottom of the wheel as shown in Fig. 5. The carrier being carried forward away from the wheel 3 will operate to automatically drop to its normal suspended position as shown in Fig. 1.

It will be seen that by means of this construction, the mail carrier receptacle as it is carried along by the cable 14 will clear the posts 9 and 5 and the grooved wheel 3 and the brackets will clear the pulley 13, the mail carrier receptacle as it passes over the operating wheel 3 automatically being restored to its normal position.

By means of the apparatus hereinbefore described mail may be sent from different points by patrons of a rural delivery route to the main road over which the rural delivery vehicle passes thereby increasing the mail delivery service and enabling a larger number of residents of a district scattered at different distances from the main road over which the rural delivery vehicle passes to receive and send out mail.

The bracket shown in Fig. 4 is formed from a strip of metal of uniform width and thickness throughout which is constructed with a transverse intervening portion adapted to be secured to a post and twisted at each end to form a depending U-shaped hanger 12 in each of which is mounted a pulley 13.

It should be understood that my device may be operated under ground as well as overhead and may be driven by any convenient means without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is I 1. A mail carrier apparatus comprising a number of posts located at intervals apartbetween two distant points, a transverse bracket on each of said posts having a grooved pulley in each end, a post at one of said points having a flanged horizontal wheel thereon, a grooved wheel at the other distant point, a cable and means for operating the same, a pair of bracket arms secured to said cable and projecting laterally therefrom and extending downward, and a main carrier receptacle mounted on the lower ends of said bracket arms, said carrier receptacle and arms being automatically moved out of engagement with said grooved operating wheel, and passing over the same, and automatically returning to its normal suspended position after leaving said wheel.

2. A mail carrier apparatus consisting of a number of posts located at intervals apart between two distant points, a transverse bracket on each of said posts having U shaped depending ends, a grooved pulley mounted in each U-shaped depending end, a post at one of said distant points having a horizontal wheel at its top witha horizontal flange, a post at the other distant point, a groove operating wheel on said pulley, an endless cable passing over said wheels and said pulleys, a mail carrier receptacle, and brackets suspending said receptacle from said cable and each consisting of a wire secured at one end to said cable, projecting upward, then laterally, then downward. then laterally, and then downward, and wound about the end of said receptacle and secured thereto.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES MAAR.

Witnesses: K

AUGUST SALK, J r., W. A. BURGESS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

